Help wanted: Beggars, prostitutes and thieves

Help wanted: Beggars, prostitutes and thieves

by digby

A recent review of job vacancy postings on popular sites like Monster.com, CareerBuilder and Craigslist revealed hundreds that said employers would consider (or at least “strongly prefer”) only people currently employed or just recently laid off.

Unemployed workers have long suspected that the gaping holes on their résumés left them less attractive to employers. But with the country in the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression, many had hoped employers would be more forgiving.

“I feel like I am being shunned by our entire society,” said Kelly Wiedemer, 45, an information technology operations analyst who said a recruiter had told her that despite her skill set she would be a “hard sell” because she had been out of work for more than six months.

Legal experts say that the practice probably does not violate discrimination laws because unemployment is not a protected status, like age or race.

That’s one way to keep the unemployment rate high and wages low. And the new austerity should help matters greatly. Obviously our policy makers believe that the country is in desperate need of more beggars, prostitutes and thieves. Those are jobs that are being created anyway.

I have a business idea. Who wants to incorporate and and sell themselves to jobless people as their “current job” for resume purposes? You could just charge a little fee if the person gets the job. Why not? It’s no more immoral than saying people shouldn’t be allowed to work if they aren’t already working.

.